By Nadia Ramlagan
Public News Service
As Congress continues to push for cuts and additional work requirements for Medicaid eligibility, experts warn more Kentuckians could lose access to treatment for substance use disorders.
The U.S. House has already passed a budget bill, which by some estimates would slash federal spending for Medicaid by around $700 billion.
In 2020, nearly 30% of all Medicaid recipients in Kentucky used at least one substance use disorder service and in 2021, more than 54,000 were receiving treatment for opioid use disorder.
Ashley Spalding, research director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said the program is critical for people in recovery.
“They’re getting prescription medications that are evidence-based for treating opioid use disorder,” Spalding explained. “If these cuts go into effect, then people are going to lose access to their treatment, to their prescription medications.”
Medicaid funding is used for medications like suboxone and methadone, harm reduction tools such as Narcan and fentanyl strips, and other community-based services. According to federal data, last year overdose deaths in the Commonwealth decreased for the third year in a row and decreased among Black Kentuckians for the first time, according to state data.
A decade ago, Kentucky expanded Medicaid and relies on federal funding for 90% of the program’s budget, nearly $6 billion. Spalding worries counties could see the positive trends in overdose deaths reverse if providers get fewer federal dollars and expansion is rolled back.
“We know that people, particularly in rural parts of the state, there are very high rates of overdose. That’s the case for Black Kentuckians as well,” Spalding pointed out. “We want to see the state move forward on this really critical health issue.”
A new report from the National Bureau of Economic Research showed states choosing to expand Medicaid saved more than 27,000 lives between 2010 and 2022.